Japanese tourists denied entry to Sierra Leone

Four Japanese tourists were not allowed to disembark their plane at Sierra Leone’s main airport in Freetown on Wednesday over suspicions of a possible coronavirus infection.

The travellers arrived on a Kenya Airways flight from the Liberian capital Monrovia. 

According to Sierra Leone’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), alarms were raised when the airline’s station manager alerted authorities at Freetown International Airport of a passenger who was showing signs of the coronavirus. 

The CAA said the four Japanese nationals were denied entry to the country on “public health grounds”. They left Sierra Leone on another Kenya Airways flight to an undisclosed location. 

The authorities added that the remaining passengers were allowed to disembark the plane and were quarantined in line with precautionary health measures.

There are still no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Sierra Leone. 

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